One Piece is one beast of a manga series that has already long since extended past where even the author originally intended in terms of length. While the overall premise of sailing around the world and becoming king of the pirates is quite the ambitious one, manga artist Eiichiro Oda has gone on the record in the past to say he had only expected it to last around five years. It’s now been over 20, and the series is still going strong.

But how much longer can we actually expect it to run? For the longest time, it seemed like the never-ending introduction of new characters and story threads would make ending the series in our lifetime impossible, things do actually seem to be headed towards closure even now in the storyline. The series has just released its 929th chapter and has already published its 91st volume.

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Well, we still have quite a bit to go — but not a ridiculous amount, if we’re to believe Oda himself. During a recent appearance on Fuji TV’s Honma dekka!? program on Wednesday, Oda stated the series will end at “just over 100 volumes). Assuming he means less than 110 (though we can never be truly sure) This means we will likely get in the neighborhood of 15 to 20 more volumes, or 150 to 200 more chapters. That may seem like not much in the grand scheme of things, but that could very well mean another three or four years.

It’s also worth noting that Oda is notoriously unreliable when it comes to knowing how long the story will take. I mean, that’s often the case with many writers (hello, George R.R. Martin). Planning a story is one thing, but there is a lot that’s uncovered in the telling, and as the scope in One Piece proves, this world really has a lot to it that could be explored for another 30 years if Oda wanted.

How long do you think the series has left before it ends? Sound off down below!

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SOURCE: Anime News Network